5 moves Buccaneers need to make after salary cap increase
By Josh Hill
Make Antoine Winfield Jr the highest paid safety in NFL
This one goes without saying, as somehow letting Antoine Winfield get away should result in jobs being lost. He deserves to be paid like the best safety in football because he is the best safety in football, full stop.
Winfield was far and away the most valuable player for the Bucs last year, as he single-handedly changed the outcome of games on more than one occasion. His season started with a huge forced fumble on Kirk Cousins and from there he made plays like stripping Desmond Ridder at the goal line to prevent a touchdown and did the same thing in Week 18 against Carolina.
That last one arguably saved the Bucs season, as it came at a time when the offense was incapable of scoring and a loss would have bounced Tampa Bay out of the playoff picture. Instead the team got in and established momentum that it’s riding into this offseason.
He’s a candidate to get the franchise tag but it shouldn’t come to that thanks to the increased salary cap space. Tagging Winfield would simply be a measure to extend the amount of time the Bucs have to work out a long term deal, but with $45.5 million in cap space Jason Licht has room to work his salary magic and make an already no-brainer deal an even easier decision for all involved.
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